Toko E-Blast: Field Reports from U.S. Nationals

I want to offer a big thanks to Jason Travis, Barry Makarewicz, and Matt Johnson for all of the work testing they did for Toko at Nationals! Thanks for an awesome job!

– Ian Harvey, Toko USA

Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation

Toko wax kicked some serious butt last week at the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships at Soldier Hollow, UT!Wax Highlights:Glide:Bases: Toko Tribloc HF Black DLC mixed with XCold Powder was great as a base haredening layer early on in the week when we were trying to get the bases hard in the cold abrasive snow! Race skis saw lots of K’s so hardening for the man made snow was key. As the week went on we had lots of the Toko DLC Black down as a solid foundation for the Toko tops.

HF: HF Blue Tribloc was a solid HF layer the entire time we were at Soldier Hollow. This HF wax in combination with other key Toko products lead to some fast wax combinations.

AX 134 was a key additive to the HF Blue Tribloc layer especially for the glide on the classic skis for the classic sprint day.

X-Cold powder was great in combination with the Toko JetStream Blue powder over HF Blue for the 10/15k Sk on 1.4.2013. No block or liquid cover was needed.

We ran a JetStream Blue/Red block mix for the 30km Classic race. It ran well in both the manmade and the new snow.

Helix Red provided an extremely fast “greasy feeling” ski on 1.8.2013 for the skate sprint. Helix was applied over the top of Toko JetStream Blue powder and even though the temperatures were warming the blue powder was still running. This is most likely because the snow temp was still really cold despite the warmer air temp.

Kick:

Toko base green proved to be a great wax for the classic days at U.S. Nationals. Various applications lead to great results both as a stand alone kick wax and a base binder. For the 20/30k Toko spray green klister was applied over a well roughened kick zone. A thin layer of Toko Base Green kick was then applied and then ironed in and cooled. We then applied Toko Green klister and Base Green again and created a hard wax/ klister binder “mix”. This applied with plenty of time to cool kicked extraordinarily well and did not tear or wear at all! The klister mixed with the green actually sped up the kick wax significantly.

Thanks to Ian for all of his support!

– Colin Rodgers, Head Coach, SVSEF XC Team

Cambridge Sportsman Union

I might have been one of the few people happy to hear that U.S. Senior Nationals would be held on mostly man made snow. My CSU team trains mostly on man made at the Weston Ski Track and we’re used to waxing and racing on the fast, hard tracks of man made. Last year at Rumford on their man made we had some great results so I was confident that we could have good skis again this year.

For the classic sprint race Toko HF Blue and Jetstream Blue were the obvious choice for glide. And for kick there is only one choice in fresh man made: Base Green stick. We were sharing a wax trailer with some good friends who were convinced that another kick wax was the ONLY choice for these conditions. I tested it against the Base Green and although it worked, it gave slightly less secure kick and had just a little more drag. Our skis were super fast and our athletes could stride up every hill. In the very abrasive snow we did have to freshen up the wax between heats.

In the skate race we went straight with the Toko recommendation of LF Blue, HF Blue, Jetstream Blue Powder and Cold Powder mixed and ironed on, a fine Blue rill, and hand-corked Jetstream Blue block. Our skis were ripping fast and I enjoyed watching our skiers tucking behind other skiers who were skating hard to maintain speed on the gradual downs. In the cold, abrasive man made snow there’s really no doubt that this is the best way to prep skis. We used the same wax last year at Rumford in similar conditions and had great skis.

For the junior classic race we needed more durability for our kick wax so we did a mix of Green klister and Base Green stick. It’s counter-intuitive, but the Green klister speeds up the Base Green. Application is the key to making this wax work with the right mix of the two waxes. We ironed on the klister, cooled it outside, rubbed on Base Green, then ironed that into the klister, cooled it again, and corked it smooth. It was key to keep the kick zone short and not go to the very end. For some skiers who needed a bit more kick we could add a layer or two of Base Green. All our skiers strode without slipping up the one kilometer opening hill and then passed many skiers on the long downhill on the sprint course part of the trail.

Thanks to Toko we had another great week with one skier on the World Junior Championships team and one on the U-18 Nations cup team. Our top man was 10th in the Junior ranking. Several skiers had best-ever results. See you next year.

– Rob Bradlee, Head Coach, USSA Coach of the Year

CXC Elite Team

Cold temperatures and dry snow for the first two races we found that Tribloc HF Blue over Tribloc LF Black ran great. We covered with Jet Stream Blue powder ironed in really hot (150C+). Having the iron really hot was very important. On the classic sprint day we kicked on a super thin Green Klister binder covered with Green Base and a hard kick wax.

Temperatures rose for the final two races but the snow still remained cold. We continued to find success with HF Blue over LF Black. We switched to Jet Stream Red powder, and again having the iron really hot was extremely important. For the long distance classic race we again used a klister Binder covered with Green Base wax. The klister binder was important for durability but had to be thin and on a stiff pair of skis so as not to drag. For the final sprints we ran Toko Red Helix. Our skis were really great with several athletes having personal best qualifier performances.

– Brian Gregg, CXC Elite Team

Bridger Ski Foundation

Due to the cold weather and abrasiveness of manmade snow it was important to harden the bases of the skis. For this we used a combination of Toko Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) wax mixed with Toko XCold powder. In our preliminary tests we found Toko HF Black (DLC) to be performing in our top three base layers on its own, so it was a natural choice for our first layer of wax. Mixing HF Black (DLC) with XCold powder served the dual purpose of hardening the ski base while also repelling dirt and creating anti-static properties within the base. For races early in the day, we put a layer of Toko HF blue on top of the HF Black/XCold Powder combination, while for afternoon races we used another combination of Toko XCold Powder mixed with another warmer wax. These base layers were the foundation of our glide waxing for the whole week of races.

– Andrew Morehouse, BSF Elite Coach

University of Alaska Anchorage

I was part of UAA’s 3-man waxing team which consisted of head coach Andrew Kastning, assistant Tor Christopherson, and myself as volunteer assistant. We collected waxing recommendations from Toko and from a variety of other companies and sources, and we conducted our own testing each day on a variety of products. We tested a wide variety of base layers each day, and we tested a variety of topcoats just prior to each race. Our athletes tested their own skis with matched waxes and they consistently chose skis with finer grinds throughout the week.

For Friday’s individual-start distance skate races, based on our own testing of multiple brands, we settled on Toko HF Blue over Toko LF Blue as a base layer, with Jet Stream Blue Powder and XCold powder mixed as the top layer. Our skiers uniformly reported very fast skis in the skate race, and our own observation of our skiers skiing down hills during the races confirmed that our skis were gliding very well in comparison to other skiers in the field. The rest of the week, I was tasked with doing other things, but I think this glide wax solution served us well all week.

– Adam Verrier

Methow Olympic Development

We were on Tribloc Toko HF Blue from day one at Nationals. We also ran Tribloc LF Black as an under layer all week. Even though we tested every day and across many different brands, Toko HF Blue won every single base layer test on every day. This despite some distinctly different temperature, humidity and snow aging conditions. Like many, the old Dibloc HF blue had been my go-to base layer in many conditions and I was loathe to give it up, but this Tribloc HF blue has earned its place in my wax box.

– Scott Johnston, Head Coach

Alaska Winter Stars

I think you had a good tester because our results were very similar to yours, so we ended up using very close to what you were recommending in every race.

In every race, we used Tribloc HF Blue either straight or mixed with XCold powder or Tribloc HF Red depending on what was going on. We covered this with JetStream Blue either straight or mixed with XCold powder in the first three races. In the Skate Sprint, we went with JetStream Red and then later on Yellow covered by HelX Red – like you recommended but it was later and there was more moisture in the snow for the juniors.

– Jan Buron, Head Coach Alaska Winter Stars

Just Ski

Classic Sprint. We went on JS blue roto-corked over HF blue. Kick was Green Base on klister skis with the kick applied short and thick just like klister. I think this kick wax y provided the best skis I have skied on in memory. Roller ski kick and very free–I tried a few covers over the base green but never found anything that made any difference. This made waxing very simple–which is how I like it. Like I said I cannot remember a kick wax that was this good.

Distance Skate. HF blue covered by JS blue powder/Cold Powder mix ironed in quick and hot. I had heard of this combo before but had never tested it. Took a 50 meter ski to conform that this was the wax. Pretty much gave up any other testing once I tried this wax. Once again a very easy application.

Skate Sprint. HF Blue/red base layer, JS blue rotocorked covered with Helix Red. Skis were good and Anika was able to ski off the front in her quarter final and win easily. She thought she would be too cool for school and try to put away the fastest girls in the US in her semi and tried to ski off the top in the lead–you know how that story ends. Skis were as fast as anyone else’s for sure though. She’ll learn.

I followed your wax recommendations every day and we had great skis every day–I could have gone crazy testing the alphabet soup of waxes and brands but found it to be quite simple and effective to just read your texts and follow your instructions. I have had great past results at SoHo with all the Toko wax jobs we used this week so it was a no-brainer to use what has worked in the past. I could have fit all the waxes I used this past week in my two hands–this is how I like it. Makes a coach’s life simple and allows us to focus on making our racers fast instead of worrying about a million wax combinations.

– Tuck Miller, Head Coach

Toko US fb Promo – LAST CHANCE!!

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